ctvtoronto.ca

It's safe to say most people in line outside the Bloor Cinema on a -14C morning wouldn't have stood there waiting for a chance to watch Republican John McCain get sworn in had he won the U.S. presidency in November.

Andrew Ogilvie was standing near the head of the line to get into the viewing, hosted by Democrats Abroad. He told ctvtoronto.ca he probably wouldn't be there even if it had been another Democrat such as John Kerry (a presidential candidate in 2004).  "I'm sure I'd be home," said Ogilvie, laughing.

But for all concerned, a chance to watch Barack Hussein Obama be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president -- and the first black one -- meant a chance to watch a once-in-a-lifetime historical event.

For historical context, Peter Aplegran lived in South Africa during the apartheid era and emigrated to Canada.

He missed seeing Nelson Mandela walk out of Robben Island prison in 1990, "and I wasn't going to miss this," he said.

But people didn't just want to watch history. They wanted to see it with others.

"I know I needed to be here because I needed to feel the warmth of all these other people surrounding me," said Myrna Gabbidon, the very first person in line, wearing matching Obama buttons.

As for Obama himself, "he gives me hope that we're heading towards something that's new ... and hopefully that we'll see change that we've not seen before," she said.

Ogilvie put Obama in the league of John F. Kennedy and Pierre Trudeau when it comes to personal magnetism. "And this is why I'm here today," he said.

Tamika Latibeaudiere, attending the event with Ogilvie, likes the hope Obama inspires in people.

"It's something I've never seen in my lifetime before. I think it's quite remarkable, it's something I want to be a part of, and it's something I want to witness," she said.

Latibeaudiere is black, but said she would find Obama a compelling leader even if he wasn't. "If you had the vision that he has, the energy, the confidence that he has -- absolutely," she said.

Ena Paul, there with her 91-year-old mother Anita, admitted she wouldn't be out to watch just any politician get sworn in. She watched Obama's Nov. 4 election victory while in Brussels, Belgium and "I wouldn't miss this for anything!" she exclaimed.

She cautioned this: "We shouldn't look on Obama as just a black man. He's the right man for the right time."

She laughed that her mother thinks it's "prophecy fulfilled," but Anita didn't wish to comment.

The atmosphere

The seating capacity of the Bloor Cinema is 840, but there were people standing in the balcony and seated in the aisles. At one point, the organizers pleaded with people to find seats, lest the fire marshal close the place down.

People were in a festive mood, and a big contributor to the party atmosphere was Shawn Glen. He had brought an African drum and worked the room from the stage to the upper balcony.  "He-e-e-y, O-ba-ma!!" people chanted along.

"Yes we can!" some yelled on their own.

Just to the right of the main screen, an image of text messages was projected on the wall. Someone messaged in, "Yes we did!"

And the tip jar for the temporary bar set up in the upper lobby by Pauper's Pub had this hand-written sign: "Yes you can! :)"

Although Obama has tried to preach a non-partisan message, there were boos and hisses as the outgoing President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney appeared on the giant image broadcast by CNN.

A few people tried to get the "hey, hey, GOOD BYE!" hockey chant going at Bush's appearance, but it died out fairly quickly.

The Rev. Rick Warren -- one of the leading evangelical pastors in the U.S., but someone who is seen as anti-gay -- also got a rough ride from the crowd before he delivered the invocation.

Any senior Democrat who appeared on screen got applauded. John R. Nay, the U.S. consul-general in Toronto, had the misfortune of trying to address the crowd when Obama first flashed on screen. The place exploded. Nay wisely stopped talking.

People tittered when Obama and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts both slightly flubbed the oath of office.

There wasn't a widespread standing ovation when Roberts told Obama, "congratulations, Mr. President" -- almost moot as Obama had technically become president six minutes earlier when the clock struck noon. Tears and smiles were still in abundance among audience members at the moment.

The speech

Everyone listened intently during Obama's speech, a sobering statement on the many challenges that face a country with a tanking economy and its soldiers fighting wars in two countries.

People whooped when Obama said before the estimated two million people on the Washington Mall, "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

His declaration that "the time has come to set aside childish things" and America  must "carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness" both generated big applause.

Obama's admonishment that America's power doesn't "entitle us to do as we please" got relatively limited applause relative to his declaration to terrorists that "we will defeat you."

His observations about helping the world's poorer nations, the selflessness of those who would cut their own hours rather than see a co-worker lose their job all got warmly acknowledged by the Bloor crowd.

"This is AWESOME!!" someone texted.

And when it was over, mothers escorted their broods through the crowd, office workers rushed back to work -- and they all walked out onto Bloor Street to see a protester accusing Obama of his first human rights violation (an Iraq war resister being deported back to the U.S.) and an onlooker smoking a joint.